Vallentine, who now lives in California, said his old MSU friends were the first to come to mind when he heard about the competition.

“At the time, I had a bunch of friends back in Michigan, so we decided to shoot it there,” he said. “It’s kind of a love story that transcends time and the complications that the female lead had with her significant other and how she put them in her dance.”

Once Vallentine had his idea, he had to find a producer to bring the idea to life: MSU alumna Brianna Gardner.

“Andy and I work well together,” Gardner said. “We kind of see eye to eye, and I just knew it was going to be good because we were collaborating with a lot of people we knew from Michigan State.”
The team shot the entire video in July, traveling to Lexington, Midland and Detroit.
MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences helped by lending them equipment.
“The department itself was very helpful,” Gardner said. “They let us borrow their lighting equipment, which saved us hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars because we usually have to rent the equipment.”

Brian Kusch, the dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, said he was happy to offer assistance to the MSU graduates.

“By helping our (alumni) with projects like these, it helps elevate their craft and gives them quality work to enhance their résumé reel,” Kusch said. “As our (alumni) become more successful, they are able to bring our future graduates along with them, thus elevating the status of the (College of Communication Arts and Sciences) in the media industry.”

Media and information junior Ben Webber said it’s common for people in that field of study to try to break into the music video industry.

“All the kids that I know that are in these classes have a strong interest in music, so they want to go into it,” Webber said. “I know I would like to do something like that in the future because I think that just comes along with it when you’re creative; you’re just kind of into the arts in all areas.”

Open voting for the video closed Tuesday, and the band will deliberate on the entries. If the team’s video wins out in the end, Vallentine said it will make the future all the more promising.

“I think that it’s one of my dreams to be a music video director, so the closer I can get to making a legit music video, the better, just so my work and all of our work can be seen,” Vallentine said. “Because it’s a team effort. We’re all kind of relatively new in the industry, (so you) have to work your way up; so whenever there’s an opportunity to move up, it’s a good thing.”